Harley Davidson May Roll Out Sub-500 cc Bike In India By 2022

Avishek Banerjee Jan 08, 2020

Harley-Davidson Inc. is reportedly planning to launch a sub-500cc bike in the Indian market in the next couple of years, as revealed by sources who requested anonymity. Though the product details are under wraps, it is widely believed that upcoming product will be a 338cc motorcycle which will be launched in China by 2020-end, followed by its launch in India. Another source has revealed that the upcoming motorcycle is likely to be a dual cylinder streetfighter and could be priced around Rs. 3 lakh to 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom). To be built at its local facility at Bawal, Haryana, the product will be highly indigenised and will be pitted against the 350cc range of products by Royal Enfield, which is currently the market leader in middleweight bike market.

A well-informed source BW Businessworld spoke to, revealed, “After developing a 750cc bike for India and a 500cc bike for global markets from India, Harley’s next plan of action was to develop a bike which is sub-500cc and are tailormade for emerging markets, including India. To be unveiled at EICMA, Italy in 2020, it will initially be sold in China and later on In India and other Asian markets.”

When the global spokesperson of Harley-Davidson Motor Company was contacted by BW Businessworld, he maintained, “We are not sharing product specs at this time. We will revert as and when we have additional details to share.” Harley Davidson India spokesperson, when contacted, also refused to comment stating, “Nothing is confirmed for the Indian market at this point of time.”

Matt Levatich, President and Chief executive officer, Harley-Davidson, Inc. in a press statement had earlier maintained, "Harley-Davidson has always been about inspiring riders around the world. Our ‘More Roads’ plan is all about bringing our brand of freedom to more people, in more places, in more ways.”

Last year, Harley Davidson had announced that it has teamed up with Chinese brand Zhejiang Qianqian Motorcycle to make a small-capacity bike for Asian markets. The same co-developed bike will now be built in India and finetuned according to local conditions. The announcement was made after the Milwaukee-based company’s closed-door talks with Hero MotoCorp for the joint development for 250-500cc motorcycles fell apart. The Indian two-wheeler maker had, however, denied any discussions with HD in this regard.

Interestingly, Harley Davidson’s would-be-competitor Royal Enfield has decided to phase out its entire lineup of 500cc bikes owing to the high cost of upgrading those engines to meet BS-VI emission norms coupled with low volumes. The Indian bikemaker, which has been selling Classic, Thunderbird and Bullet brands in the 500cc segment for many years, will now be actively focussing on 350cc range of motorcycles of the aforementioned brands.